Gaming retail, as we know it, is a wretched thing — advertising overload, cluttered shelves, bitter employees, and mucus-encrusted kiosks that we wouldn’t touch even if they worked properly. Andrew Urbanek aims to shift the paradigm with a more mature kind of establishment called Games On. Read on for more information on this daring project and a lengthy chat with Urbanek, himself.

Wander into Games On, nestled in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego, and you’ll be confronted with the usual fixtures — demo stations, box-lined shelves, and monitors showing off footage from the latest titles dangling from the ceiling. Everything you come to expect from a store specializing in the sale of video games is present and accounted for, but just as alien as it is familiar.

Wide, open spaces replace haphazard obstacle courses around magazine racks and rival shoppers, games are given breathing room on the see-through shelves (Games On seems to know the difference between “display” and “storage”), and sleek flat-screens do next-gen games more justice than the smudgiest television in a traditional game retailer.

There’s a mock living room in the window space, currently featuring a Rock Band setup for patrons to play with, and an even sexier theater in the back for the games that deserve more “cinematic” attention, to boot.

Games On wouldn’t necessarily be the first store to go with the modern, urban aesthetic, but it might be the first for an independent video game retailer. Intrigued as to how such a unique alternative could work in the face of the GameStop mega-empire, I wanted to talk with owner Andrew Urbanek. Here’s what he had to say.

Cavin: So how did your store come into being? Was it born of a general frustration with the way game shops are normally run or was there one specific incident that made you snap and say you could do it better?

Andrew: Games On came about through a number of needs. I had just finished another project, so I needed something to which I could apply my efforts. The area where I lived certainly needed a good game store; and the retail side of gaming needed to grow up a bit.

That last one was really the force that has driven Games On from the start. The video game industry is just starting to mature, both from the development and the gamer side of things, but the retail side hasn’t changed in over a decade.

Cavin: What, if anything, inspired the design of GamesOn?

Andrew: My wife (who is my partner in this) and my love of modern design. Clean lines, natural materials, open space…so when we designed this store, it all came out. Other stores that we look to for inspiration were places like the Apple Store (their 1.0 design, not their current layout), SonyStyle, the Metreon in San Francisco, and the SFMOMA.

There was an early idea of hanging the games by museum wire, to just have them ‘floating’ in space, but that was obviously not functional. The ‘invisible’ acrylic shelves were a great compromise.

Cavin: What kinds of store design problems did you try to address?

Andrew: The biggest criticism I have of existing video game retail trends is that they’re a visual mess. Game boxes have loud enough designs as is, but to stack them edge to edge, floor to ceiling just causes so much visual noise that it become impossible for anyone not “in the know” to navigate.

A casual gamer, or someone who may just be looking into the hobby cannot walk into most game stores and be able to comfortably browse on their own. They either have to rely solely on the employees to help them make sense of it all, or they simply get overwhelmed and leave. This, above all, is what I wanted to avoid.

Moreso, from working in game development, I have to admit it’s hard walking into a store and seeing your game getting buried under ten boxes of the latest big release. I wanted to give each title its space, and allow the art of each box to speak for itself rather than having to stuff multiple copies of the same game on the shelf just to get it noticed. I have found that by having only a single copy of every game displayed, it makes the store look “emptier.” Despite having hundreds of games, it still gives the impression of a limited stock, but I’d rather deal with that than the alternative.

Cavin: Did you run into any major complications when trying to set things up?

Andrew: Hah, about one every day. Honestly, check out a show called ‘Ultimate Retail’ on the FineLiving channel. Every problem that comes up on that show, we’ve probably had to deal with, from finding good suppliers to the floor not being laid correctly, to month-long delays. But these sorts of issues come up in any project of this size, be it a remodel on a house or establishing a new business.

The problem that stands out the most, and was unique to Games On, was everything surrounding our shelving system. It’s hard to go into detail, but you’d be surprised at how few moving companies will actually take on the job of moving something unique.

Cavin: If you had an underlying philosophy about this whole project, what would it be?

Andrew: Well, I’ve mentioned the need for video game retail to mature, but I guess if I were to break it down to the most simple terms, I just wanted to create a game store that I’d love to see. Really nothing more than that.

Cavin: You’ve talked a lot about location. Normally, game retailers are shoved into non-descript strip malls. How did you choose your location and what’s significant about it?

Andrew: Location was a huge concern. In fact, we delayed the entire project over a year just because we wanted to hold out for the perfect space. As I’ve said, I thought my town needed a game store (the nearest one is a few towns over) and, if I was going to make something more high-end, it had to be in a visible location with pre-existing walking/shopping traffic.

Well, this started to narrow down my options considerably. Then I had to start looking at what types of stores I’d be neighboring with. There was one space that I looked at, but it was between a dentist and an escrow agency. Nobody shops after a root canal.

Cavin: What kind of stock are you planning on carrying? New systems? Old systems? Rare stuff?

Andrew: Right now we are only focusing on current generation consoles and handhelds. That was a decision that had to be made early on. Even though the store was going to have a lot of space to work with, it could rapidly get over-filled if we decided to build a stock of previous generations, and I wouldn’t want to have to have too limited a selection in any field.

Additionally, the design focus, both physical and financial, would have been drastically different if I wanted to create the best used/retro game store possible. I know a lot of hardcore gamers aren’t thrilled with that, but it was one way or the other. In the coming year, I want to start carrying import titles, but, again, will only do so if I can offer a fairly comprehensive selection, which means finding a good import distributor. Know any?

Cavin: Afraid I don’t, but that brings up a good question. How else do you plan to compete with established retailers?

Andrew: Do things better. In any business, there are only a few ways to truly compete. This generally boils down to either doing things cheaper, or doing things better. The video game retail market is an interesting one in that prices are generally set. A Wii is $250, a 40 Gig PS3 is $400, new games are $50 or $60. There’s not a lot of room for competitive pricing outside of bundles and repeat shopper incentives.

Instead, I’m working to make shopping at Games On a vastly different experience than the leading video game chain. Heck, since I’m not constrained by corporate design decisions, I’ve been able to make just stepping into the store something different.

Cavin: So, what would you ask of someone who walks into your store to apply for a job?

Andrew: Well, first I’d say that we’re not hiring yet, though that may change soon. We do have a fairly standard application (thank you, online templates) except I’ve added one section. I ask the applicant to name three great games from every system from the current and previous generation (Dreamcast to PS3, basically).

This serves two functions. First, I certainly would like video game enthusiasts behind the counter, but I’m more concerned with system and genre bias. I’d rather have someone who doesn’t know much about games, but is eager to learn than someone who leads their clan in kills but looks down on platformers.

Cavin: If it’s successful, do you have any plans for expansion? Have you thought about other cities or regions of the country? Your store has an “urban chic” vibe to it. Are there places you don’t think it would fly?

Andrew: First things first, gotta get one store up and running. At least, that’s what I keep getting told. Yeah, there are thoughts (read: dreams) of expansion. First a few more locally, then hitting some other urban/suburban markets. Then ????. Then World Domination. Still working on a few steps, though.

As for places that it wouldn’t fly, that’s an interesting one. At first, yes, I think the store would really only work in certain neighborhoods, but over time the gentrification of pretty much everywhere in the states allows “urban chic” to show up where it otherwise wouldn’t. Heck, twenty years ago Smallville would have laughed at the thought of paying $5 for some Frappemochasspresso thing, but marketing and expansion happens.

Only having opened in the past couple of weeks, Games On has already received a genuinely positive response. Urbanek says,”Most people just can’t believe it’s a game store, a lot of ‘finally a game store here…we needed one,’ most are surprised that we don’t charge any more for the games, and everyone seems to love the design.”

As attractive and well run as it seems to be, a labor of love like this has an uphill battle to face. Evil conglomerates loom high overhead and business these days is never quite fair to the little guy, but if you see yourself patronizing Games On in the future, you can find it at the following address:

953 Garnet Avenue
San Diego, CA 92109

Hours are currently 11AM-8PM every day except Monday, when the store is closed. Games On can be contacted at 858-272-4212.

Tags: Games-On, gamestop, gaming-retail, interview

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